Channing Tatum is People’s Sexiest Man Alive; What’s Up Next

Channing Tatum is People's Sexiest Man Alive; What's Up Next

Channing Tatum's whirlwind, breakout year has now been capped with an honor shared by the likes of George Clooney and Brad Pitt — People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive.

Tatum headlined three box office successes in 2012, most notably in Steven Soderbergh's "Magic Mike," in which he played a baby-oiled, writhing stripper with a heart of gold, and most surprisingly in romantic dramedy "The Vow" opposite Rachel McAdams, which made an unpredictably mighty $41.7 million on its Valentines Day weekend opening. Tatum also made a successful odd couple with Jonah Hill in this summer's hit "21 Jump Street," the big-screen reboot of the Johnny Depp-starring '80s TV show.

Apart from headlining, Tatum appeared in another Soderbergh film, "Haywire," playing second-fiddle to the kickass Gina Carano.

Next year looks to be another busy one for the Sexiest Man Alive, as the pipeline holds "G.I. Joe Retaliation," which was reportedly restructured to feature Tatum as the lead after his 2012 breakout status, Soderbergh's psychological thriller "Side Effects" (trailer here) opposite Rooney Mara, Roland Emerich's "White House Down" opposite Jamie Foxx, and Bennett Miller's drama "Foxcatcher," based on the true story of the murder of Olympic wrestler David Schultz (Tatum) by a paranoid schizophrenic (played by Steve Carell).

Tatum's best quote for People on his status as Sexiest Man Alive: "I told [my wife] Jenna after we'd been in the bathtub washing our dogs because they'd gotten skunked. She was like, 'What?'"

Check out the results to our reader poll on whether "Magic Mike" is really what women want.